The House of Mirth (Book II)
Chapters VII & VIII
In these two chapters of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, the reader witnesses a clash between the internal and external conflicts of Lily Bart. One see's Bart attempt to use the motivations of one to solve the other.
At this point in the story, the enmity between Bertha Dorset and Miss Bart is clearly the latter's external conflict. Once again, Mrs. Dorset is spreading horrific stories about Lily; this proves truly damaging to Bart's reputation when she informs Rosedale that she has agreed to marry him. Rosedale says to Lily, "I don't believe the stories about you-I don't want to believe them. But they're there, and my not believing them ain't going to alter the situation....I'm more in love with you than ever, but if I married you now I'd queer myself for good and all, and everthing I've worked for all these years would be wasted" ( Wharton, 207-208). Before this encounter between Lily and Mr. Rosedale, the internal conflict of the former was whether or not to agree to marry Rosedale, George Dorset, or neither. However, due to the aftermath of Lily's external conflict, the decisions she made on behalf of her internal conflict are disrupted, thus creating a new internal conflict that could possibly lead to an advance in her external conflict (that is a lot of conflict :O). To clarify my thought process, now Lily must decide (internal conflict) whether or not she will blackmail Bertha, either with the letters from earlier in the story (that say who knows what?!) or by exercising her power over George Dorset's affection, in order to stop the spread of the strories that have ruined her reputation. Choosing to blackmail would then create new boundaries for the external conflict between the two women. This is appealing to Lily because she would be in control once again, and an improved reputation would cause men like Rosedale to desire to marry her once again. Oh my.
I sure hope Lily choses to blackmail Bertha-that woman is a snob!
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